Happy 50th Birthday Lynne.
I put some washing on upon waking this morning, at just before 9am we again tried for Anne Frank house tickets & Richard was successful, we needed to enter between 2.15 & 2.30pm. Mum was nil by mouth as she was going for tests & was feeling a bit yucky. Our hop on hop off tickets were valid until 1pm so after a coffee (& sending text messages to Aunty Anne, Anne Smith & Jo) we walked to the bus stop & finished the loop (apart from 2 stops) on the bus. We headed into the station to buy sandwiches for lunch & then made our way to the green line boat, we boarded the boat at about 12noon, thinking a full trip would take about 1 1/4 hours, the boat left about 12.15 & we learnt it takes 2 1/4 hours for a full trip. I looked at the map & stop six was nearest to Anne Franks & we confirmed with the tour guide that when we’d arrive at that stop & that we’d have time to walk. We arrived at 1.45pm & sat in the sun by the canal. The museum was good, we had an audio guide which was good, the space was slightly bigger than I’d expected but still not that big for two families, seven people. During the day they had to be extremely quiet & not use water so the employees didn’t know they were there. We saw a map where Otto Frank had been plotting the allied advancement, to think it was so close to liberation when a neighbour turned them in. The rooms of the annex were not furnished, Otto said the Germans had ordered the removal of all items & that’s the way it should stay, there was a model of how the rooms looked with furniture, very cramped. The museum also contained the actual diary, how neat Anne’s handwriting was.
Mum messaged to say she still hadn’t gone for her tests at 1pm. Lynne rang after contacting the hospital at 5.30pm to say mum was back in the ward, she was ok & eating.
We walked back along the various canals, the walk taking about an hour, it was a beautiful sunny afternoon & lots of people were enjoying the sunshine & having a drink.
We arrived home at about 5.45pm.
Finishing up night tonight, we’ve had sauté potatoes, ratatouille, salad & tortellini, delicious.